Clippers’ Home Court Advantage Fading With Loss to Warriors
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The Los Angeles Lakers loss last night was advantageous to a team that is too far away from the playoff prize – much closer to the first round draft pick that’s dangling on the NBA amusement park merry-go-round.
Poor play in sports is rarely rewarded, but when the gift of a potential franchise player is up for grabs, it’s easier to take the blows when you know it’s for the betterment of the faulty team you’re trying to rebuild.
On the other hand, the NBA team that shares the same city, the fast and fading Los Angeles Clippers, are struggling.
The road that was their friend has cruelly turned into their foe, and the return of Blake Griffin may not come to fruition until after the regular season, when home court advantage is a thing of the past.
Their loss last night to the Golden State Warriors was not unexpected, but a three game slide, two of which to teams they should have beaten, is not the best use of their time down the stretch.
In the final seconds of the first quarter, when it looked like the Clippers were making a statement, ahead by seven, Stephen Curry barreled through the lane without one LA player barrier in his way.
They were fooled and forsaken by Klay Thompson’s fancy footwork, giving up three after three. He and Curry combined for 65 of Golden State’s 114.
DeAndre Jordan had a great game, scoring 19 points and 20 boards. But the backcourt of Chris Paul and J.J. Redick were a combined 8-for-29 with the bench besting the starters 52-46.
With two of their 12 remaining games against the Lakers, the Clippers can help themselves secure home court advantage by beating them, and in doing so earn some much needed karma by helping their brothers from another mother obtain a first round pick.
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suekolinsky
Sue Kolinsky is a writer/producer whose career began as a waitress in Manhattan. After a cynical remark got her fired, she took her humor to a place it would be appreciated – The NY Improv, which is where she launched her 20-year stand-up career. After much time spent performing at clubs, colleges and numerous tours with the USO, along with appearances on The Tonight Show and Bob Hope’s Young Comedians Special, she replaced her microphone with a Mac computer and began writing and producing TV. She has written on “Brotherly Love,” “Sex and the City,” and “The Ellen Show.” In 2001, She got a call to be a producer on the groundbreaking reality series, “The Osbourne’s.” She had no idea a new phase of her successful career was about to unfold. After garnering her first Emmy nomination, she went to produce a new MTV show called, “Newlyweds,” a reality series that documented the early-married life of Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey. In 2009 she landed a job as supervising producer of the highly touted culinary competition series, “Top Chef.” She eventually became co-executive producer, garnering two more Emmy nods. Adding to her many hats, Sue also co-hosted a morning radio talk show with Steve Mason, on NY’s iconic WNEW. Having the dubious honor of going up against Howard Stern, the show was cancelled after sixteen months, but her partnership with Mason paid dividends. When he returned to his prior radio sports talk gig in LA, he gave Sue a featured segment on the show. Sue’s love of sports surfaced at the age of 10 when her older brother turned her on to baseball, and her hero, “The Say Hey Kid,” Willie Mays. While she still followed the Giants, her uncle’s box seats at Shea Stadium made her a Mets fan, and to this day, she’s still chasing the high of ’86. Sue’s love of writing about sports began as a daily analysis of the World Series on Facebook. Due to popular demand, she has created this blog. As if that’s not enough she just completed producing the past season of Last Comic Standing, and is writing an animated feature. Sue lives in Long Beach, California with her husband and two grown dogs.